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Weather halts search for missing flight

Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya announced Tuesday that the airline will continue to provide food, hotel accommodations and transportation to the relatives of the missing passengers.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 25: Vice Chief of the Defence Force Mark Binskin addresses the media together with Australian Minister for Defence, David Johnston during a visit to RAAF Base Pearce on March 25, 2014 in Perth, Australia. The minister thanked the multi-national crews for their efforts in the search and discussed the suspension of search efforts due to poor weather conditions off Perth. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)(Photo: Paul Kane Getty Images)

(USATODAY.com) - The fate of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will remain a mystery for at least another day.

The attempts to locate the wreckage of the lost plane have been put on hold for at least 24 hours due to unsafe weather conditions in the search area, Australian Defense Minister David Johnston told reporters, Tuesday.

Johnston acknowledged the urgency of the search, but stressed that the part of the Indian Ocean where possible debris from the flight has been spotted is both dangerous and remote.

"We cannot put pilots and crews at risk; we cannot put ship's company at risk; we just have to deal with this location as best we can," Johnston said.

Flight crews from six nations are putting in exhaustive hours to search the area. Yet, the massive international search for signs of the plane's location has yet to produce any concrete evidence and no wreckage has been retrieved.

"Let's be clear, to this point in time we have not successfully identified and recovered any debris from the aircraft in question," Johnston said.

Mark Binskin, vice chief of the Australian Defense Force, did not understate the challenge still facing the searchers. "We're not searching for a needle in the haystack. We're still trying to define where the haystack is."

Despite the lack of a definitive discovery, Johnston believes the plane went down in the Indian Ocean, because that is the best theory out there.

Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya announced Tuesday that the airline will continue to provide food, hotel accommodations and transportation to the relatives of the missing passengers.

Ahmad also announced that the airline will give $5,000 to each missing passengers' next of kin.

"We recognize that financial support is not the only consideration, but the prolonged search is naturally placing financial strain on the relatives," Ahmad said. "We are therefore preparing to offer additional payment as the search continues."

In Beijing, furious relatives of the missing passengers marched on the Malaysia Embassy, Tuesday, and threw plastic water bottles, tried to rush the gate and chanted, "Liars!," according to the Associated Press.

A relative of a passenger abaoard the missing Malaysia Airlines jet displays a photograph of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak with the words, "Please bring back my husband," on Jan. 29 in Putrajaya. The 239 passengers and crew on the missing airliner have been declared dead and their disappearance on March 8, 2014, was formally declared an accident. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Parents whose son was on the missing airliner demand the Malaysian government continue the search for the Malaysia Airlines flight near the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing. The poster reads, "Malaysia Airlines, return my relative to me." (Photo: Andy Wong, AP)

Jiang Hui, left, and Dai Shuqin, relatives of passengers on the Malaysia Airlines flight, react after watching a pre-recorded message from Malaysia's Civil Aviation Authority on a laptop in Beijing. Malaysian officials declared the crash of Flight 370 an accident.This clears the way for families to seek compensation, as the plane remains missing. (Photo: Andy Wong, AP)

A photograph released on April 15 shows operators aboard the ADF Ocean Shield prepare to launch a U.S. Navy Bluefin-21 robotic submarine to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet in the Indian Ocean. (Photo: U.S. Navy MC1 Peter D. Blair via AFP/Getty Images)

Royal New Zealand Air Force Sgt. Trent Wyatt searches for the missing Boeing 777 from a P-3 Orion aircraft on April 11 over the southern Indian Ocean. (Photo: Pool photo by Richard Wainwright AFP/Getty Images)

A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion aircraft flies over the Australian Defense Force vessel Ocean Shield during a search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet on April 9 in the southern Indian Ocean. The ship has detected two new underwater signals that may be emanating from the aircraft's black boxes. The Boeing 777 with 239 people on board disappeared on March 8. (Photo: LSIS Bradley Darvill, Australian Defense Force, via AP)

Japanese and Malaysian officials watch the departure of a Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force P3C plane at Subang airbase near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The plane is flying to Australia to join the search for the missing airliner. (Photo: Ahmad Yusni, epa)

Australian navy Able Seaman Clearance Divers Michael Arnold, left, and Matthew Johnston from the ship ADV Ocean Shield scan the water for debris from the missing jet on April 7 in the southern Indian Ocean. (Photo: Lt. Ryan Davis, AFP/Getty Images)

A Royal Malaysia Air Force C-130 takes off on a search mission for a missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 jet on April 3 from Pearce air force base in Perth, Australia. The airliner with 239 people on board disappeared on March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. (Photo: Pool photo by Rob Griffith)

A crew member aboard a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion aircraft searches for debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet on April 2 over the Indian Ocean northwest of Perth, Australia. The Boeing 777 airliner with 239 people on board disappeared on March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. (Photo: Pool photo by Kim Christian EPA)

Malaysia's civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, left, speaks to the media after a private meeting with Chinese relatives of the passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet at a hotel in Bangi near Kuala Lumpur. (Photo: Joshua Paul, AP)

People who are related to passengers on the missing flight talk with members of the Malaysia Airlines special assistance team during a meeting at a hotel in Beijing. (Photo: Wang Zhao, AFP/Getty Images)

A picture on a monitor shows a piece of unknown debris spotted by a Royal New Zealand P-3 Orion during a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet on March 31 in the southern Indian Ocean. The images were sent for analysis to the Rescue Coordination Center and Australian Maritime Safety Authority. (Photo: Pool photo by Rob Griffith)

A relative of a Chinese passenger on the missing jet prays before a briefing with Malaysian officials at a hotel in Beijing. The Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. (Photo: Alexander F. Yuan, AP)

South Korean Navy Lieutenant Commander Oh Kang-Min wears a MH370 search-and-rescue team patch as he waits to meet Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott at an air base in Perth, Australia. (Photo: Pool photo by Jason Reed)

A Royal Australian Air Force ground crewman stands in front of a Royal Malaysian Air Force C-130 Hercules after it landed at RAAF Base Pearce on March 29 to help with the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in Perth, Australia. (Photo: Rob Griffith, AP)

An Royal Australian Air Force aircraft takes off on a search mission for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet from Pearce Airbase on March 28 in Bullsbrook. Planes and ships raced to a new search zone after investigators suggested the missing Boeing 777 was flying faster than first thought before it plunged into the Indian Ocean. (Photo: Greg Wood, AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese relatives of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines fligh pray in a room at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing. The airliner with 239 people on board disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8. (Photo: Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images)

Royal Australian Air Force Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map as he flies aboard an AP-3C Orion aircraft during a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet over the southern Indian Ocean. (Photo: Pool photo by Michael Martina)

A Thaichote satellite image taken on March 24 and released March 27 by the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency shows objects floating in the Indian Ocean near the search area for the missing jet. (Photo: GSTDA via AP)

A Malaysian air force general reacts as he answers a question from a relative of a passenger on a missing Malaysia Airlines jet during a meeting at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing. The relatives were told that they would be brought to the recovery area as the search goes on for wreckage. (Photo: Wang Zhao, AFP/Getty Images)

A satellite from the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency taken on March 23 shows the location of unknown objects in the southern Indian Ocean off the southwestern coast of Perth, Australia. A Malaysia Airlines jet with 239 people on board disappeared on March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. (Photo: MRSA via Getty Images)

Malaysian Minister of Defense and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein shows pictures of possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet on March 26 at the Putra World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur. The Boeing 777 with 239 people on board disappeared on March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. (Photo: Mohd Rasfan, AFP/Getty Images)

A family member, right, of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane is comforted by a member of the Special Assistance Team at a hotel in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on March 25. (Photo: Joshua Paul, AP)

High school students attend a vigil for passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines jet in Lianyungang, China. The Boeing 777 airliner disappeared on March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

A grieving Chinese relative yells at journalists during a protest outside the Malaysian Embassy. Angry relatives of the Chinese passengers aboard the missing Boeing 777 marched to the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing to demand more answers about the crash. (Photo: Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images)

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The Chinese government has demanded that Malaysia turn over the satellite data it used to determine that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was crashed in the Indian Ocean with no survivors. Of the 239 people on board Flight 370, 153 were Chinese nationals.

Johnston was asked if he was surprised that Malaysian officials told the missing passengers' family members that all aboard the plane had died, before the wreck had been discovered.

"I am not surprised about anything with respect to this," Johnston said. "Until we recover and positively identify a piece of debris everything is virtually speculation."